'Today I wasn't very confident going into the tournament so anything was going to keep me happy out there and I'm pleased with the score.'

Harrington, winless on the European Tour since 2008, chose not to fret on the handful of missed opportunities he had to tie or claim the outright lead. Instead, he was satisfied with his performance and relatively good health.

'I had the flu all week in Hong Kong,' he said. 'I played two rounds of golf but the rest of it I spent holed up in bed trying to recover.

'I suffered a bit of a relapse this Tuesday. I still have a bit of a cough so I won't be doing too much practice this week, just taking it easy.'